Docfest 2024: Kate and Sarah's presentations

Docfest 2024 is Charles Sturt University's Graduate Research Online Conference https://research.csu.edu.au/research-support/researcher-development/docfest/docfest-2024 

Congratulations to my PhD students:

Kate Margetson competed in the Charles Sturt University Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT). Her presentation was compelling - and she was announced as a finalist. She will now travel to Port Macquarie for the CSU finals.

 

Tomorrow, Sarah Bartlett is presenting the following paper: 

Online focus groups for understanding caregivers’ experiences following intervention to support their children’s speech and language 

Background: Understanding caregivers’ experiences can assist professionals to promote caregivers’ active engagement to positively impact child outcomes. 

Aim: To explore caregivers’ experiences and engagement of intervention to support their children’s speech and language. 

Method: Caregivers (n=5) who had recently completed the 16-week Target Word™ intervention attended online focus groups to share their perspectives. Qualitative Interpretative Description (ID) methodology was used to understand their experiences. Transcripts of these focus groups were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. 

Results: Two themes were identified: (1) caregiver engagement over time and (2) caregiver engagement in learning is individual to each caregiver.

Conclusion: Caregivers experienced unique engagement journeys over the course of the program. Professionals can explicitly facilitate participation at each phase of Target Word™ to promote active engagement for learning and caregiver empowerment to support their children’s language growth.

ECV2024 registrations have begun - 47 from 8 countries already!

This month we launched registration for the Early Childhood Voices Conference 2024 (ECV2024). In less than two weeks we have had 47 registrations from Fiji, Nigeria, Ireland, Iceland, Hungary, Bangladesh, UK, and Australia. Our international reach has begun.

Here is our website: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/

Early Childhood Voices Conference (ECV2024). Free, online 25-28 November 2024. Interdisciplinary, international, social justice. Please register and submit an abstract.

• Registration: https://csu.edu.au/ecv2024 
• Abstract submission closes 29th July 2024: https://www.cvent.com/c/abstracts/f80b7916-9c71-4cfd-8141-c68bcff659d9 
• Children’s submission of a drawing/creation of playing (see attached poster): https://csu.edu.au/ecv2024-children

 

Sun on a Sunday afternoon in Oxford

I arrived in sunny Oxford on Sunday afternoon before my meeting with Oxford University Press on Monday. The golden sandstone was stunning. I am not quite sure how students remove their bikes from the pile!

Listening to Children with Speech, Language, and Communication Needs and other topics

While in the UK I have enjoyed visiting my colleague Emeritus Professor Sue Roulstone (https://www.nbt.nhs.uk/bristol-speech-language-therapy-research-unit/bsltru-team/professor-sue-roulstone). We have worked together over many years including her roles as:

• chair of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapist advocating for children with speech, language and communication needs with the Bercow Review (https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/2013/07/speaker-of-house-of-commons-draws.html)
  
• director of the Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit (where I visited in 2010 and 2013)
  
• visiting professor at Charles Sturt University
• partner investigator on the Sound Start Study (ARC Discovery Grant) https://www.csu.edu.au/research/sound-start/
• co-editor of Listening to Children with Speech, Language, and Communication Needs https://www.jr-press.co.uk/product/communication-needs.

While visiting Sue we planned the second edition of our book and discussed lots of other topics. It is wonderful to have long-term friendships with colleagues across the world.

Sue Roulstone and Sharynne

Our view for discussing the second edition of the book

Just published: Diagnosing speech sound disorder in bilingual Vietnamese-English-speaking children: Are English-only assessments sufficient?

The following book chapter from Kate Margetson's PhD has just been published. Congratulations Kate on this important research. (P. S. Unsurprisingly, the answer to the question posed in the title is "no" - but the evidence is fascinating)

Margetson, K., McLeod, S., & Verdon, S. (2024). Diagnosing speech sound disorder in bilingual Vietnamese-English-speaking children: Are English-only assessments sufficient? In E. Babatsouli (Ed.). Multilingual acquisition and learning: A ecosystemic view to diversity. (pp. 217-245). John Benjamins Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.67.08mar 

Here is the abstract

Multilingual children suspected of having speech sound disorders (SSD) are often only assessed in English due to challenges facing speech-language pathologists (SLPs) such as inadequate resources, lack of access to multilingual SLPs or interpreters, and limited SLP knowledge and skill in assessing unfamiliar lanquages. This paper describes the speech profiles and diagnostic decision-making for four bilingual Vietnamese-English speaking children aged 4-6 years. When using English-only assessment all children were diagnosed with SSD. When assessed in English and Vietnamese, only two children were diagnosed with SSD. Many mismatches could be explained by cross-linguistic transfer and ambient phonology. These different diagnostic outcomes demonstrate that direct speech assessment in home language(s) and English is essential for accurate diagnosis of SSD in multilingual children.

University of Bristol Health Sciences Faculty invited lecture

My final presentation as Bristol Benjamin Meaker Visiting Distinguished Professor was held today https://www.bristol.ac.uk/international-research-development/diary/2024/health-sciences-talk-by-professor-sharynne-mcleod.html It was presented to University of Bristol Health Sciences Faculty. 

The title was: Multilingual Children’s Speech 

Here is the abstract: 

Many children and families are multilingual; whereas, many speech and language therapists in the UK (and other countries around the world) are monolingual English speakers. An evidence-based protocol has been developed for monolingual speech and language therapists to assess and analyse the speech of children who speak different languages. This protocol has been tested with Vietnamese-English children and adults during the VietSpeech Australian Research Council Discovery Grant. Free resources have been developed for working with Vietnamese children and families (https://www.csu.edu.au/research/vietspeech/info) as well as for speakers in over 100 languages on the Multilingual Children’s Speech website (https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech). Multilingualism has been described as a superpower (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBrXmRW7lwg) and this presentation will encourage attendees to support young superheros during their speech and language therapy.

Abhaya Vadlamudi was thanked for being a
multilingual superhero who speaks Telugu and English

Child Language Teaching and Therapy Annual Summer Lecture - Announcement

Child Language Teaching and Therapy have just announced their Summer Lecture.

Free tickets are available here:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/child-language-teaching-and-therapy-annual-summer-lecture-2024-tickets-882052130667

Here are the details:

The Journal of Child Language Teaching and Therapy are thrilled to announce the details of our 2024 Summer Lecture. 

Do we really listen to children? 

Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod, Charles Sturt University, Australia 

Communication is a human right for all; and ALL includes children with speech, language, and communication needs, including those who speak/sign non-dominant languages (McLeod, 2018). Aligning with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations, 1989) we have given attention to the “voice” of children. For example, we have creatively engaged in child-friendly arts-based methods to provide children with the “right to freedom of expression… regardless of frontiers” as outlined in Article 13. However, do we REALLY listen to children? As we become more accustomed to including children’s perspectives in our professional practices, it is time to reflect on whether some of our inclusion of children’s voices could be perceived as “tokenistic” (Hart, 1992). As communication specialists, we have the power to support children’s voice and to assist others to listen. How can we mature in our practices to enhance children’s participation within democratic processes in their families, schools, communities, and society? 

Biography: Sharynne McLeod, PhD is a Distinguished Professor at Charles Sturt University, Australia specialising in speech and language acquisition. Her transformative research has reframed the profession by foregrounding communication rights and social justice, and by enhancing equitable participation for multilingual children with speech, language and communication needs. She has advocated for communication rights at the United Nations and the World Health Organization. She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales. She has been an Australian Research Council Future Fellow, Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Bristol, and Visiting Professor at Manchester Metropolitan University. She served as editor-in- chief of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, and has received Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and Life Membership of Speech Pathology Australia. The Australian Newspaper named her Australia’s Research Field Leader and Best in the World in Audiology, Speech and Language Pathology based on the “quality, volume and impact” of her research. 

More information A recording will be made available after the lecture. The lecture will be held online via zoom and details will be shared with participants. Follow us on X: @SharynneMcLeod @CLTTJournal Connect with us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/child-language-teaching-and-therapyjournals.sagepub.com/home/clt

Invited presentation to the Cylch Ieithyddiaeth/Bangor Linguistics Circle

I was honoured to be invited to speak to the staff and students at Bangor University https://www.bangor.ac.uk/ and the Cylch Ieithyddiaeth/Bangor Linguistics Circle. Thank you to Bethan Collins who organised the event and to the engaged students and staff who attended.

Here is the title of my presentation: Communication professionals need to advocate for communication rights and the Sustainable Development Goals

Here is the abstract:

Communication is a human right for all. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression… regardless of frontiers” (Article 19, United Nations, 1948). As communication professionals, we have the power to enhance everyone’s participation in day-to-day life, families, communities, and society. When we support everyone’s ability to communicate, we contribute to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the five pillars of the 2030 Agenda: people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnerships.

McLeod, S. (2018). Communication rights: Fundamental human rights for all. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 20(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2018.1428687

McLeod, S., & Marshall, J. (2023). Communication for all and the Sustainable Development Goals. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 25(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2022.2160494

Thank you Bethan Collins (PhD student) who organised the event

Some of the audience in Bangor and online

 

During my conversations I learned about Bangor University's commitment to sustainability and Prof Thora Tenbrink's work. She is Professor of Linguistics and Dean of Research at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Bangor University:

• Director of the Places of Climate Change Research Centre at Bangor University https://www.bangor.ac.uk/plocc and Co-leading the PATCCh WISERD research network (Place-based Approaches To Climate Change)  https://wiserd.ac.uk/project/patcch-network/
  
• Involved in the Public Map Platform project, which gives children on the island of Anglesey a voice regarding their local place, expressed through various arts methods in addition to language (https://publicmap.org/en)
  
• Part of the Rural Wales Local Policy and Innovation Partnership which aims at co-creating solutions to local challenges through communication with rural communities https://www.arsyllfa.cymru/cymru-wledig-lpip-rural-wales-phase-two/
  

 

Finally, I love this message on emails from the university as it encourages multilingualism: 

"Mae croeso i chi gysylltu gyda'r Brifysgol yn Gymraeg neu Saesneg. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi. You are welcome to contact the University in Welsh or English. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to delay."

Meeting with Mélanie Gréaux from the World Health Organization

Today I had an inspirational online meeting with Mélanie Gréaux (Consultant, Sensory Functions, Disability & Rehabilitation (SDR) Unit) at the World Health Organization https://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/sensory-functions-disability-and-rehabilitation working with Darryl Barrett (WHO Disability Program Lead). We discussed potential future collaborations that are very exciting. 

The WHO Global report on health equity for persons with disabilities (2022) https://www.who.int/teams/noncommunicable-diseases/sensory-functions-disability-and-rehabilitation/global-report-on-health-equity-for-persons-with-disabilities provides the latest global estimate of persons with disabilities: 1.3 billion people (or 16% of the global population). This shows a slight increase from the 2011 world report.

"Urgent action is needed
The report calls on WHO Member States to take action to advance health equity for persons with disabilities. It also invites civil society, including organizations of persons with disabilities, and other health partners, to collaborate and advocate for the implementation of the recommendations included in the report and achieve the highest attainable standard of health for all. It offers 40 targeted and comprehensive actions that countries can take to strengthen their health systems and reduce health inequities for persons with disabilities. Regardless of context and resources, all governments and health sector partners need to commit to firstly including health equity for persons with disabilities at the centre of health sector actions; secondly empowering and including persons with disabilities; and thirdly monitoring the outcomes for persons with disabilities."

I have been inspired by much of Mélanie's work - including this paper:

Gréaux, M., Moro, M. F., Kamenov, K., Russell, A. M., Barrett, D., & Cieza, A. (2023). Health equity for persons with disabilities: a global scoping review on barriers and interventions in healthcare services. International Journal for Equity in Health, 22(1), 236. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-023-02035-w

The Island of Research

Today I was reminded of this excellent image that I have used with students for many years https://barbourians.org/2011/04/27/the-island-of-research/. It aptly demonstrates the highs and lows of the research journey. It was first published here: 

Harburg, E. (1966). Research map. American Scientist, 54, 470.

International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association (ICPLA)

Today we had a meeting of the executive committee for International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association (ICPLA) https://www.icpla.org.uk/

• President: Sharynne McLeod
• Vice President: Joanne Cleland https://www.strath.ac.uk/staff/clelandjoannedr/
  
• Secretary: Alice Lee https://publish.ucc.ie/researchprofiles/C025/alee
  

The major topic we discussed was the 2025 conference and we also finalised revised extIPA diacritics.

ICPLA holds a biennial Symposium in different countries to allow members to meet and present research papers. The meetings typically last three days and include oral presentations, poster presentations, an ICPLA business meeting, and plenty of opportunity for informal discussions. 

Dr Eleftheria Geronikou (http://logoth.upatras.gr/en/elefteria-geronikou/) joined us for the meeting and we finalised the following (and discussed lots of other topics)

The 2025 ICPLA Conference will be from the 24th to 27th of June 2025 at the University of Patras, Conference and Cultural Centre, Greece, hosted by Dr Eleftheria Geronikou

Key Dates:

• Abstract Submission: Opens Tuesday 15th October, Closes Wednesday the 11th of December
• Notification of Acceptance: Wednesday 5th February, 2025
• Conference: 24th to 27th June, 2025

Alice, Sharynne, Joanne, Eleftheria

Finalising the ECV2024 CVENT site

After a very lengthy process, Dr Carolyn Gregoric and I celebrated the finalisation of the ECV2024 CVENT site. People can now register, submit an abstract, and submit a drawing for the Early Childhood Voices Conference 2024 (ECV2024). HOORAY! Thank you Carolyn, Patrick McKenzie, Simone Markham and team.

Here are the details:

• 25-28 November 2024 - Online conference
• 22 April to Monday 23rd September 2024 - Children’s submissions of drawings/creations open (not peer reviewed)
  
• Monday 29th July 2024 - Abstract submission close
  
• 5th August to 2nd September 2024 - Scientific review of abstracts
  
• September 2024 - Abstract submission outcome
  
• 14th October 2024 - Pre-recorded presentations due

• Conference: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/
• Registration: https://csu.edu.au/ecv2024
• Abstract submission: https://www.cvent.com/c/abstracts/f80b7916-9c71-4cfd-8141-c68bcff659d9
• Early Childhood Voices Global Online Gallery: https://cvent.csu.edu.au/event/0d591439-4c54-4f18-8620-1f37f00582f4/summary
• Submit drawings/creations:  https://csu.edu.au/ecv2024-children

Wonderful hosts in Bristol

I have enjoyed being hosted in Bristol by my friend and colleague Prof Yvonne Wren. She and her family have shown us around Bristol. We visited Bristol in 2010 and 2013 - and while many places are similar - there are new places and activities to discover and explore. Combining work and recreation is important when visiting universities around the world - because so much is learned while walking and talking and lifelong friendships are made.

Extraction of primary maxillary incisors and children’s speech production: A case series

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication: 

Hurley, C. R., McLeod, S., & Anthonappa, R. P. (2024, in press). Extraction of primary maxillary incisors and children’s speech production: A case series. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699206.2024.2355481

Here is the abstract:

Dental caries (tooth decay) is a disease with a significant global burden. Management may necessitate the extraction of teeth to restore oral health. The association between dental extractions and children’s speech is unclear, with clinical implications for speech-language pathologists and dentists. This case series describes a prospective study reporting the impact of primary maxillary incisor teeth extraction on speech sound accuracy for three children (C1 aged 5;6 (years;months), C2 aged 4;6, C3 aged 3;10). Their speech was assessed using the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP) and the Intelligibility in Context Scale (ICS) before (T1) and 1 month after dental treatment (T2). Speech analysis included the percentage of consonants correct (PCC) and error type analyses. Caregiver and child perception of the child’s oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) were assessed pre-and post-operatively using a modified Scale of Oral Health Outcomes for 5-year-old children (SOHO-5). At T1 all three children scored >1 standard deviation below the mean on normative data in the DEAP. There was no clinically significant change in PCC for any child (C1 T1:89.6%, T2:90.6%, C2 T1:78.0%, T2:75.9%, C3 T1:56.1%, T2:63.1%). OHRQoL measures were improved for C1 by the carergiver report and remained stable for C2 and C3 and all child reports. Speech sound difficulties were present before dental treatment in all participants and extraction of primary maxillary incisors did not significantly impact speech production. Dental extractions appear to be independent from speech production in this case series of preschool children.

This paper documents part of the research undertaken by Caitlin during her Doctorate of Clinical Dentistry at the University of Western Australia supervised by Robert Anthonappa and myself. She presented this work at the International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association Conference in Salzburg last year. Congratulations Caitlin!

Sunshine at the University of Bristol

Most of my time at the University of Bristol has had rain and grey skies. It is fascinating to see how the university transforms when the sun is shining. There are many gorgeous areas to sit and enjoy the nature within the boundaries of the university campus right in the middle of the city of Bristol. Even the squirrels love it. "No Mow May" makes it even more picturesque with all of the wildflowers everywhere.

Cleft Collective Cohort Study: Writing research papers in Bristol

My Benjamin Meaker Visiting Distinguished Professorship involves working with Prof Yvonne Wren and team at the University of Bristol Dental School on the Cleft Collective Cohort Study https://www.bristol.ac.uk/dental/cleft-collective/. We have already published one paper together on this work, and during my visit we have been working on more papers from the outstanding data they have collected with 3- and 5-year-old children with cleft lip and palate. 

Here is the paper we wrote earlier Seifert, M., Davies, A., Harding, S., McLeod, S., & Wren, Y. (2021). Intelligibility in 3-year-olds with cleft lip and/or palate using the Intelligibility in Context Scale: Findings from the Cleft Collective Cohort Study. The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal, 58(9), 1178-1189. https://doi.org/10.1177/1055665620985747

It is a joy to work with Yvonne and Amy Davies, the outstanding statistician on the Cleft Collective team: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/dental/cleft-collective/meet-the-team/

Amy Davies the amazing statistician with the Cleft Collective

Cleft Collective bake sale

Amy Davies and Sharynne

Online meeting with Nord University

This morning I met with colleagues at Nord University in Norway to meet one another virtually and discuss future collaborations. Katrin Olsen visited Charles Sturt University in Bathurst a few months ago, so it was great to meet her colleagues, including Kristian Kristofferson who I have collaborated with for many years. The Nord University team are undertaking a study with children and families in Sami communities in Norway.

Learning about tongue tie at University of Bristol

Prof Jenny Ingram has developed a number excellent and user-friendly scales for quantifying tongue tie to determine whether or not a child should have a tongue tie clipped to assist with breast feeding. I had a fascinating online meeting with her this week. Here are some of her excellent papers: 

Emond, A., Ingram, J., Johnson, D., Blair, P., Whitelaw, A., Copeland, M., & Sutcliffe, A. (2014). Randomised controlled trial of early frenotomy in breastfed infants with mild–moderate tongue-tie. Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition, 99(3), F189–F195. https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2013-305031 

Ingram, J., Copeland, M., Johnson, D., & Emond, A. (2019). The development and evaluation of a picture tongue assessment tool for tongue-tie in breastfed babies (TABBY). International Breastfeeding Journal, 14(1), 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13006-019-0224-y 

Ingram, J., Johnson, D., Copeland, M., Churchill, C., Taylor, H., & Emond, A. (2015). The development of a tongue assessment tool to assist with tongue-tie identification. Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neonatal Edition, 100(4), F344-F349. https://doi.org/10.1136/archdischild-2014-307503

 

Research Wellness Retreat in Wales

I was invited to run a Research Wellness Retreat for staff at Cardiff Metropolitan University and Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit. The retreat was held at Cardiff Metropolitan University and during the afternoon we enjoyed St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff https://museum.wales/stfagans/about/

The following people were able to attend: Prof Yvonne Wren, Dr Robert Mayr, Prof Fei Zhao, Dr Rhonwen Lewis, Dr Sam Burr, Ria Bayliss, Annie Li Jiaying, and Charlotte McCarthy. We were also pleased to welcome Dr Rhiannon Phillips (Deputy Associate Dean for Research, Cardiff Met) for part of the day.

The next week I also had wonderful individual meetings with Dr Rhonwen Lewis, Annie Li Jiaying, Anna Kowalska, Charlie Strutt, and Caitlin Holmes.

Dr Robert Mayr inspiring the attendees

Fei, Rhonwen, Annie, Rhiannon, Ria, Robert, Yvonne, Sam, Charlotte, Sharynne

Welsh cakes and Tim Tams

Rhonwen Lewis planning a book

Lunch at Cardiff Met

St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff

St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff

Sam, Sharynne, Yvonne, Charlotte, Annie, Robert and Rhonwen at
St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff

Sharynne meeting with Charlie Strutt about the new tertiary clinic
for children with complex speech sound disorders at Cardiff Met